The present invention relates to a connector, particularly to a connector used to mount a module of a wearable device on a garment to establish electrical connection therebetween.
In recent years, so-called wearable devices in which terminal devices such as various sensors and communication devices operate as being worn by a user have attracted attention. Such a wearable device is electrically connected to a device like a measuring device or a power source to transmit detected information or receive power supply. While electrical connection can be established via a connector attached to a garment, the connection via the connector has to be disconnected when the wearable device is detached, when the garment is washed, and on other occasions.
To cope with it, for instance, a snap button connector has been used to establish connection between devices, as disclosed in JP 2015-135723 A.
As shown in FIG. 46, the snap button connector disclosed in JP 2015-135723 A includes a male snap button 2 attached to first cloth 1 and a female snap button 4 attached to second cloth 3. The first cloth 1 and the second cloth 3 are made from conductive cloth, while the male snap button 2 and the female snap button 4 are formed of a conductive material. When a convex portion 5 of the male snap button 2 is inserted into a concave portion 6 of the female snap button 4 and pressed with two bar-like springs 7 of the female snap button 4, the male snap button 2 and the female snap button 4 are electrically connected to each other, whereby the first cloth 1 and the second cloth 3 are electrically connected to each other via the male snap button 2 and the female snap button 4.
Electrical connection of a wearable device can be made using the snap button connector as above, and when the wearable device is detached or the garment is washed for example, the electrical connection via the snap button connector can be released by separating the male snap button 2 from the female snap button 4.
Meanwhile, the snap button connector of JP 2015-135723 A does not have waterproof structure even though it is a connector to be attached to a garment in use, and thus water may enter the contacting part between the convex portion 5 of the male snap button 2 and the concave portion 6 of the female snap button 4. Accordingly, there is a problem in that, even if the connector is only slightly exposed to water in a living environment, an attached water drop may cause a short-circuit at the contacting part and hinder the normal operation of the connected wearable device.
In addition, if an attempt is made to provide waterproof structure to a connector that is used to mount a module of a wearable device on a garment to establish electrical connection therebetween by fitting a module-side connector portion into a garment-side connector portion, a waterproof member such as an O-ring needs to be installed on a lateral surface of the main body of the module-side connector portion to make a region between the module-side connector portion and the garment-side connector portion watertight, and in order to increase a waterproof effect, it is preferable for the main body of the module-side connector portion to have a smooth and symmetric outline.
When, however, the main body of the module-side connector portion is formed to have a smooth and symmetric outline, this allows the module-side connector portion to be fitted to the garment-side connector portion even in a wrong orientation different from the correct orientation, and thus fitting errors may easily occur.